Australia praises efforts to ready Olympic village

Rio de Janeiro, July 26 (IANS) Australia’s Olympic delegation chief has praised efforts to fix problems at the Rio 2016 athletes’ village and said the team is likely to check into the complex on Wednesday.

The comments came a day after Australia refused to enter their allocated apartments due to issues such as blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring, reports Xinhua.

“There was fantastic progress made today,” said Kitty Chiller, chef de mission of the Australian Olympic team. “It’s looking like, according to our plan, we will be able to move everybody in on Wednesday.”

According to Chiller, there were more than 200 problems with the accommodation on Sunday. Australia paid the cost of initial cleaning out of their own pocket and have not yet been told if they will be reimbursed.

Rio mayor Eduardo Paes had tried to comfort the Australian team by saying he wanted to arrange for a kangaroo to welcome them in the village.

Chiller said she was thankful for the work done by Paes and the local organizing committee to ensure that the issues were resolved quickly.

“The mayor and I have a date on Wednesday and I believe there will be a ceremonial handing over of the keys. I have arranged a little present for the mayor as well,” Chiller said.

“For the past two years I have been saying that this is one of the best of the villages of the six that I have ever been in and I still say that it will be the best village that I have ever been in once these issues are complete.”

The delegations from Great Britain, Argentina, New Zealand, Brazil and Italy have also reported problems with their accommodation.